


For Want of a Child

by GachMoBrea



Category: Arrow (TV 2012), The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: (I don't know a lot of things.), (Oops?), AU, Alternate Universe: Midieval Times, Cisco is the Royal Inventor, Established Female/Female/Male Relationship, Fancy Talk, I don't know, King Barry, Len is a nameless Thief, Lewis Snart is still a horrible Jerk!, Mick is a Knight, Multi, OOC, Polyamorous relationship, Queen Iris, Spoiler Tags!, Traveling, etc. - Freeform, slight crossover
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-15
Updated: 2016-09-15
Packaged: 2018-08-15 03:45:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 19,152
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8041288
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GachMoBrea/pseuds/GachMoBrea
Summary: Good Queen Iris is yearning for a child, but so far she can't conceive. Desperate for answers, King Barry Allen calls for all the brightest minds to convene and voice any solutions.A cunning thief with no name steps forward but the king's friend, the inventor Cisco Ramon, doesn't trust him. (A fact he doesn't hide from anyone.) So he follows the man on his journey to help the monarchy.But what happens when a thief and an inventor travel together?Do they try to kill each other?Or do they dare learn to respect one another?





	1. Chapter 1

King Bartholomew Allen finds his lovely wife in their bedchambers wiping away tears and he is instantly worried for his beloved. He quickly walks over to her to take her hands in his.

"What has darkened your spirits, my love?"

"I fear I have wasted my good years of child bearing frolicking in the vain hopes of a child."

"To your father's eyes, you are still a child," the king smiles kindly to his queen. "And to mine you are the young maiden I took to be my wife."

"But what frivolity has making you wait brought?" the woman sighs heavily. "I have born you no male heir. I have born no child of any kind to you. I am a barren woman. What good to a king is a queen who cannot cause her king's lineage to continue?"

"I will love you a day more than forever will bring. If it is an heir you wish, then one you shall receive. We merely must temper patience in the matter."

"Patience is a thing I am most accustomed to, but my heart knows better than to trust upon it."

"You make my heart sore with your sad words, my love. Can you not try to brighten for my sake if not your own?"

"I do not wish sadness upon you, my king," the queen smiles sadly. "I just wish I could harbor that which I know you yearn for in secret."

"Take gladness in the things I yearn for and have in public then," he pulls her into his arms. "I have all that I need. You must not be saddened for that which I do not have. Be content in my arms this day. Put out all negative thoughts. For they will not bring that which you desire. They can only hinder."

"You bless me beyond words," the queen closes her eyes and rests her head against the king's chest. "I cannot take the guilt of doing you this disservice."

"Then bear it not alone, but give me a part to bear with you."

 

\---

　

The king gathers his court, but he also calls for the most cunning in his land, those he knows his most trusted advisors will scorn, but he needs all minds to gather for the un-puzzling of the conundrum.

"Gentlemen!" the king brings all eyes to himself. "The queen's heart is heavy laden with the sorrow of an empty womb. I am troubled to solve this problem for her and ask you for your insight to lighten the load from her."

A man, well known as a cunning thief with eyes as ice, tilts his head at the king as he raises his voice, "Is it with the queen the burden must be laid? Or is the king where the blame for her barren body should be placed?"

"Impudent man!" Ramon the Inventor, a dear friend of the king's, cries out. "I should have you slain on the spot for your vile accusation!"

"Then you would make me a most untrustworthy host," the king steps in smoothly, garnering the men's attention once more. "What king would they name me to be, if I should ask for others to come to my side and they not return to the gates of my castle the same as they were when they entered?"

"But, my king-!"

The king raises a hand to stop the inventor's protest. "Also, what the man has said is not something that others have all not allowed into their minds as well. He is merely the first to suggest it." He looks to the man. "Courage to speak what is on one's mind is something to admire, not destroy."

　

The tension of the room vanishes like the morning mist and the king waits a breath before continuing.

"I can do nothing to further progress in this matter. I have consulted all the physicians in my court. Great minds like Wells and Snow have looked at both my own self and that of my queen but have found nothing more than that which I have seen for myself. I ask you now, men of my court and those beyond, is there nothing you know that could be of some help to your king?"

"I know many things, my king," Ramon speaks firstly, tone low and sad. "But nothing which can bring a child to your kingdom."

"Ask me to burn your enemies to the ground and I will do it with the very fire that burns within my chest," Sir Rory, leader of the king's army, announces with a beat of his chest. "But I cannot illuminate a way to sire ship."

A few more men mumble their apologies and the king's heart feels the weight of another failure dragging him down to the sorrows of his own inability.

Until the man with eyes of ice speaks again. "I know a way."

The men's attention is once again stolen away by the thief as the man steps away from his spot by the wall.

"In a village that I happened by, the women were having a similar problem," the man explains as he slowly moves towards the king. "As I stayed the next few days, a man in a white coat arrived and promised all the women a child if they should just offer him one thing."

"A sacrifice?" Ramon growls angrily. "Is this a fairytale you weave to us? Are you to have us give you a young maiden in exchange for the king's heir?"

"To be impudent is to not show respect for another," the man glares at the inventor. "Your labels reflect more on you then those you place them upon."

While the king's man sputters and scoffs, the thief continues. "I do not ask for a sacrifice, because the man did not ask for one."

"What did the man ask for, sir?" the king enquires, breath quickening in a turmoil of emotions.

"He merely asked for food and shelter for the night," the thief answers with a hidden smile. "Then he told the women of a special berry they could eat and by the following season, their heavy hearts were replaced by heavier stomachs."

"Why should we trust a thief?" Ramon, still endangered by the man's slight on his character, stands to accuse the man, "He is a liar and his word can be likened to that of a serpent!"

"Ramon," the king smiles patiently to his man. "You view of the man is tainted by your inability to accept a rightful observance."

"My anger that was rightfully kindled my this man does not affect the truth of my words. Would you have him to send anyone off on a quest for some place that might not even exist? Would you give him your treasures or take him on as a knight, by his empty promises?"

"It takes till the box is open before one knows if it is empty," the king points out, raising his hand once more to silence his friend. "I will hear him out the full way now, Ramon. If you cannot bear to listen, then you may take your leave."

"Hope is bringing a cloud to your mind," the inventor's shoulders sag. "I must not leave, lest this man bring more thunderous results."

"You speak far more than one without answers should." the ice eyed man remarks, earning more hatred from the inventor. "If you would stop speaking into my words, and only listen, you would know that I require no payment beyond the request of any man and that I would not even garner to recieve it until the queen had conceived."

"What request do you make?"

"I would request, upon the completion of my mission, to have the king's help in rescuing my sister."

"Sister?" Sir Rory speaks up after falling into contemplative silence.

"Yes, my sister, a younger arrow from the quiver of my father's household," the thief pulls out a parchment from a small pouch at his side and hands it to the king. "She has been taken by slave traders and is being held in a stronghold that I cannot free her from alone."

The king looks at the parchment and frowns at the words written on it.

"I despise slave traders," the monarch remarks darkly. He looks up to the man who handed it to him. "Even if you fail in your task, I will help you."

"It will not by my first time breaking in and more so out of strongholds," Sir Rory laughs, the excitement of a fight brightening his mood.

"Then, with the king's permission, I shall venture to where the berries prosper greatly and bring more than the queen should need."

The king nods and the thief bows slightly to him before striding out of the room.

　

Most of the men, save Sir Rory, Cisco the Inventor, and the king, leave the gathering.

"My king," Ramon speaks lowly to his monarch. "To trust a thief, to give him what he requests without proof of his word even, is like making a mad dash towards madness itself."

"Not heeding his words merely because of his occupation is more ignorance and pride, both of which I cannot bear to risk," the king counters, tiring of his friend's behavior towards the other man. "If you think him so ill willed, then go with him."

"Go with a thief on a thief's errand?" the inventor's voice goes high near a woman's tone. "Do you wish harm to me because I spoke so vainly around you, my lord?"

"You know me better than to voice any thoughts of me desiring harm to your person."

"Yes, truly, but," Ramon grimaces. "To the ends of the world and back would I go for you, but this one thing goes against my very core."

"Then maybe you should push back in a different way."

The king leaves after that, making Sir Rory and Ramon the Inventor as the only occupants.

　

"There is a hardness to the man," Sir Rory speaks out once the two are alone. He looks to the inventor. "But all men can get that through battle and I would still trust them with my life."

"What battle could a thief have suffered through other than that of his conscience?" Ramon counters in grumblings. "I care not to do it but I fear for the health of my queen or the heart of my king should the man either be a charlatan or a clever assassin."

"Then go, learn, take in all that the man says and does and see if what you feel for him now is an anguished vanity or a rightful claim."

\---


	2. Chapter 2

At sunrise, the thief leaves the royal stables where he had camped for the night and is surprised to be met at the castle's gates by the inventor.

"Are you here to make empty threats or make a mockery of me?" the thief smirks as he passes the man.

"I am here to follow you to where your lies will prove me right and bring about your end," Ramon counters as he gathers up his pack from the ground and slings it over his back. "I will not have you gathering poison for my queen to give to her to die. I will not allow my king to suffer her loss and allow his glorious kingdom to come to ruins over the confident words from a man of lies."

"Your opinion of me is noted," the thief remarks, hastening his steps to force the other man to race after him. "But I will not wait for you to follow me. If you fall behind, that is your own doing, not the plotting of my own person."

"Ha! You would want me to think that, I'm sure," the inventor begins to huff with the effort of keeping up. He thinks of dropping his pack but then assures himself of the necessities within and thinks against it. "You quicken your steps to make me fall behind at this very moment! I am not a fool. I am an inventor of many things. I can see through the working of machines, and that includes the mind of a man."

"I am sure your toys are most grateful to have such a bright creator," the thief mocks as he nears a high stone wall. He turns to the other man. "But what good are the things that you have created if you allow the machine of your body go to waste?"

The thief turns back to the wall and jumps high enough to reach the top of it, latching his fingers over the edge, and he pulls himself to the top. Once sitting comfortably, he looks down at the inventor. "I cannot allow you to follow me. If for no other reason, I wish not to bear ill will to the king when his friend dies at the hand of his own foolishness."

"I am not a fool!" Ramon assures the other angrily, removing his pack to take out a rope with a metal hook on one end. "And I will show that to you at this instance!"

The inventor tosses the rope high, nearly hitting the other man, and the hook latches onto the top with a loud noise. Then the inventor returns his pack to his back and uses the rope to climb the wall.

Out of breath at the top, he grins confidently at the thief once he finally settles next to him.

"See?" he heaves through his effort to regain air. "I can do that which you do, but in another way."

"I am impressed that you were indeed able to make it up," the thief allows, looking the hook over. "I have often wished for such a thing but found myself unable to purchase one with my earnings."

"What?" Ramon scoffs. "You have not stolen one for yourself yet?"

"I steal what I need. Not what I want."

Without further explanation, the thief leaps from the wall, falling to and rolling to the ground expertly before popping back up to glance at the man still waiting at the top.

"If you are steadfast to follow me," the ice eyes man calls up, hands cupped around his mouth to make his voice louder. "Then I suggest you get yourself down as quickly as you can without injury."

Scowling, the inventor turns the hook around so that he can use the rope to descend the wall on the other end. Once on the ground, he tries to un-lodge the device but it remains stuck, so he abandons it and the rope to the wall so as not to lose sight of the other man.

　

\---

　

The two travel in silence for a long while. The road is well marked but rocky and difficult to walk on.

After stumbling for what was at least the twentieth time but no more than a hundred, Ramon stops.

"Why on earth did we not take horses for our journey?"

"I do not own a horse," the thief replies, climbing up a large rock to see further ahead on their path. "Do you own such beasts, Mr. Inventor?"

"I had no need to own one," Ramon huffs, removing his pack for some relief.

"Then I would have had to steal one if I wanted it," the other man says, climbing back down the rock. "And I know how much that would have added to the ire you hold against me."

"You could have asked just as easily as you would have stolen, I'm sure," the inventor grumbles, picking up his pack once again when the other resumes his trek. "I should have had the foresight to at least gain such an advantage for myself. But in my haste to be at the gate in time, the thought never occurred to me."

"We can gain horses at the village just a few miles further," the thief tells him. "Assuming you can stop grumbling against your misfortune long enough to get there."

　

Ramon curses the man under his breath as he follows him to the village. They both rest by the well and the inventor takes the time to draw himself some water while the thief looks the place over.

There are men and women at random places in the streets, carts filled with goods to tempt the various travelers as they walk town the middle of the street. A man of tan skin and a wild head of brown hair, pulls two mares through town and almost directly towards the pair.

"Rathaway!" the thief calls to the man and the brunette immediately smiles at him.

"I thought you'd be another day at least," the man called Rathaway remarks as he hands over the reigns. "And I was perplexed with curiosity as to why one man would need two horses for such an easy errand, but it seems you have acquired yourself a nocumento."

"More like a too eager blasphemus."

"It is not blaspheme if the blame is rightly placed," Ramon defends himself hotly. "And I would appreciate it if you men would stop trying to talk in code around me. It is obvious that you are friends but I entrust that you will respect my person and speak more plainly."

"Respect?" Rathaway's eyebrows rise high on his face. "Do you give such a thing to my friend?"

The inventor opens his mouth to answer but the truth keeps words from escaping.

"I should think so after such venomously spoken words at our first meeting," the new man adds. "Surely any passerby would think you the more harboring evil intent than my friend."

"Now, now, Rathaway," the thief cuts in. "Let not the inventor's harsh feelings towards me prevent a possibly lucrative friendship from forming between the two of you. You are both, after all, of the same craft."

"Ha!" Rathaway scoffs. "I doubt such a coward would have the daring to make something worth being entitled an invention."

"Hold your tongue against matter which you do not know," Ramon bristled against the mockery of his work. "Many a thing have I made for my king. Many a thing that have proven good and helpful against times of war."

"And many a thing more you could make if you were not steadfast in your closed off mind to others around you," the other inventor makes a roll of his eyes. He looks sympathetically to the thief. "I wish you more patience than you have ever shown me on your travels with this little one, my friend."

"Little one-!"

"And I wish you a speedy return home and with thanks," the thief claps the man on the shoulder. "When I next see you, I will have my sister in my company."

"Then the king has agreed to it," Rathaway smiles brightly. "I am glad."

"No more so than I," his friend nods, pulling his hand away. "Now go, please sir. For I must continue on lest the fair maidens awaiting the end of my quest grow grey in their patience."

"Forbid it!" Rathaway laughs, quickly stepping away as his friend mounts the animal expertly. "I would rather see a hundred thousand angry soldiers than the look of fury from your sister in her elderly age!"

The thief laughs along with his friend while Ramon mounts the other horse in grumbling, silent anger.

　

With both men atop the animals, they ride off out of town and towards the next part of their journey.

　

\---

　

The skies grow dark quickly as the riders swiftly move across the plains. The thief looks up and frowns at the ever growing storm clouds.

"We will have to take shelter!" Ramon points out, not wanting to be soaked to the bone and rear end sorer than he thought a man's could get. "Do you know where a good place to lodge is?"

"There is no greater place than those made by nature itself!" the other shouts out, encouraging his horse to gallop towards the nearing cliffs.

"I meant a convenient village!" the inventor shouts back, but his words are carried away by the wind and don't even make it to the other's ears.

　

The thief finds an small alcove near the entrance of the rocky area just as the sky lights up with streaks of lightning. The horses whinny and whine against the thunderous pounding that follows and Ramon is thrown from his beast before he can sufficiently calm her.

The animal runs off, far away from the men and towards a direction the thing did not know itself. The thief, who had kept a tight grip on his reigns, secures his own animal tightly before going to the inventor's aid.

"I told you to remain before," the man's icy eyes survey the other as he slowly gets back to his feet. "How will I get the king to trust me that you have died by your own foolishness when the sole purpose for your presence is to make certain I am an honest man?"

"By your own admission on several occasions," Ramon winces as his body protests any movement requested of it. "You are a liar and a thief. Although I have not witness your thievery, I have no protest against you being the former."

"You have no protest against me not being a lair either," the thief remarks with confidence. "So far I have not lied or deceived anyone. I have merely offered your king the solution he asked for. In no way would it garner any good fortune to myself if I be proved a liar."

"Which makes your reasoning strange but does not prevent you from doing it."

　

The sky lights up again and the thunder beats against the ground with its volume. The two men run for cover just as the rain begins to fall. They make it with only a few damp patches and the thief goes to the horse to stroke it and attempt to keep it calm. Ramon reaches into his pack and pulls out a tall glass object that he places in front of himself. He pulls out two rocks. He removes the glass from the metal shape underneath and uses the rocks to start a fire on the small piece of wood sticking out of the shape. Once the flame steadies, he returns the glass piece and the small alcove is bathed in a warm glow.

"You are an inventor indeed."

Ramon looks over to the thief who is watching the flames with interest, one hand stroking the animal's head in a constant action while the other supports its head. The animal itself appears to be captivated by the light, not even shaking while the storm grows in intensity.

"I call it a Lantern," the inventor explains proudly. "There is oil in the bottom that feeds the rod at top. The glass protects the flame from wind while also serving as a way to enhance its illumination."

"And the hole at the top allows for enough air that the flame will not go out," the thief adds with a small nod. "It would come in very handy when traveling through dark tunnels. Do you supply your minors with these?"

"Not yet," Ramon admits, glad to speak on something he has a passion for even with someone he does not trust. "I am having difficulty creating something to carry the Lantern with. As of this moment, it is only good to sit in one place. The bottom will remain cool, but the glass gets very hot. There is also the fear that the Lantern will fall to its side and the oil will catch fire across the walls and ground."

"Rock will not hold the flame," the thief says, eyes averted to the animal he is keeping calm now. "If the oil were to spill, once it has burned itself out, there will be nothing more to feed the fire."

"Yes, I suppose. But my king is a very cautious man. He does not rush into things he can take his time in doing."

"Except when he trusts strangers to bring his beloved queen magic fruits to help bear a son," the thief remarks with a touch of mockery in his voice.

"King Allen does not care whether it is a son or daughter or if there is no child at all," Ramon frowns out towards the rain, anger at the man returning more fiercely than before. "He merely wishes for the woman he loves to be as happy as he is."

"Happiness is a fool's goal. It cannot be truly obtained."

The inventor startles at the other man's dark tone. A chill runs up his spine, despite the warmth from his Lantern. He looks over to the man and frowns at the face devoid of feeling.

He wants to ask him what he means, to uncover the sudden mystery set before him, but fear and self-preservation keep him silent and he settles down for a short rest instead.

 

\---


	3. Chapter 3

Ramon wakes to the feeling of something wet rubbing against his cheek. The inventor opens his eyes to see what it is and violently startles away from the face of the horse with a surprised shout.

Soft chuckling from nearby has his cheeks burning hotly.

"I take it you do not approve of wet welcomes to the day," the thief remarks with a smile as he pulls the horse away from the other man. "Your little light inspired quite the bond from our four legged companion."

"If only it could show its appreciating in a more sanitary way," Ramon grimaces as he furiously wipes at his face. "I find myself finding more reasons to loath travel."

"When one remains in one place, though, one never knows what they are missing out on."

"Cold, wet ground and equally matching faces."

That sparks a bout of laughter from the other man and the inventor finds himself smiling despite his still strong dislike for the man.

"The village is only one more days ride," the thief says after the laughter has died down. He pulls himself onto the horse and motions with his hand for the other man rise. "We'll have to ride together though, since you could not keep your hand on your horse."

"I was not expecting the beast to run off!" Ramon points our angrily as he collects his things. "You could have warned me."

"Are not all animals afraid of which they do no understand?" the other man chuckles. "Some would dare to call us beasts and I would think them enlightened when we allow our fear to make us act as such."

"All men fear something," the inventor remarks as he slings on his pack. "Even you must stray far from something when you can."

"I will not claim something," the thief answers, leaning forwards to allow the other to get on to the back of the horse. "But I will also not claim your words to be false."

"At least that is an honest answer," Ramon admits, feeling an awkward sensation as he leans towards the other man to settle on the animal. "Even if it is a vague one as well."

"There is truth in all answers. If you are clever enough to find it." The thief turns enough to catch sight of the inventor with the corner of his eye. "You will need to hold onto me as we ride."

"I will not."

"Then you will fall."

"Can I not hold onto the reins instead?"

"You might pull on them at an inconvenient time, harming the horse or myself. It is better for you to hold onto that which you can see, rather than that which you cannot."

Cheeks burning, Ramon tentatively wraps his arms around the other in a movement he very much considers intimate.

"I am not happy with this arrangement," the inventor announces hotly. "Perhaps I should be the driver and you should hold onto me?"

"It is a waste of time to change positions now. First on the horse is first to drive after all!"

The thief kicks at the animal, pushing it into a sudden jerky start and Ramon finds himself holding onto the other man tightly as his eyes shut on their own.

　

\---

　

Hours later, the two men trot into an abandoned village so that the horse can rest and drink. Ramon finally opens his eyes to take in his surroundings but it's after he has slidden off the horse that he realizes how sore he is.

"We're making great timing," the thief remarks, hands held to his sides as he looks around, pleased. "We will be at the base of the mountain by nightfall. Perhaps even have the berries and be back to the castle by the end of week."

"Wait a moment," the inventor frowns. "did you say mountain?"

"Yes, a mountain, a large elevation of the land's surface. It's usually natural and rises abruptly from the surrounding level."

"I know what a mountain is. What I meant was I was unaware we had to climb one!"

"Yes, I know."

"Then why-?!" the inventor stops himself and shakes his head before taking a breath. "Why are we climbing a mountain?"

"To get to the berries, of course."

"Why are the berries on a mountain?"

"I do not know. I am not a berry."

Ramon walks away, his heart beating fast in his chest with the desire to beat the confident smile off the other man's face.

Just as he makes it to the other side of the road, the ground thunders with the sound of several horses running their way. The inventor lifts his eyes to the cloud following after the group coming towards them.

"We have to ride out of here," the thief says, already pulling himself onto the horse. "Now!"

"What? Why? Who are they?" Ramon runs back to the well to grab his pack and scramble back onto the animal as quickly as he can, heart beating ten times faster than before. "Do you know them?"

"Only the dead know those people," the other man answers gravely, snapping the reins to get the horse to gallop as fast as it can. The inventor nearly falls off in the sudden outburst of speed, but manages to hold on with just enough strength.

　

They make it to a canyonous area before Ramon looks back. The group is clearly following them.

"Why would they be after us?" the inventor shouts out over the sound of the animal's hooves. "Are they robbers fit to take our lives and possessions?"

"They are vagabond group of bloodthirsty cowards," the thief answers back, pulling the horse to the right and a sudden stop.

"Then why do you stop! Is it your plan to stand and fight them? Or are they your kindred?"

"None of them are mine to claim," the thief slides off the horse then hands the reins to the inventor. "But a horse runs faster with only one passenger."

"You naïve fool!" Ramon growls, muscles tense with fear and alarm as he hears the those chasing them coming closer. "Get back on this beast and take me to those confounded berries you want everyone to believe exist!"

"They do exist and I put the map that leads to them in you pack just last night," the other man remarks, glancing towards the incoming people to frown before turning back to his companion. "I will not die by their hand but I hold no confidence for you should they get their mitts on your person."

"I will not abandon you!"

"To stay is foolhardy and I give you no choice in the matter!"

The thief viciously slaps the horse's rear and the animal whines out loudly before taking off through the canyon once more. Ramon shouts out protests as he desperately holds on, unable to stop the animal as he does so.

　

Eyes of ice watches man go, looking a version of relieved before turning to face the incoming cloud of his enemies.

The group stops in front of the their, their leader a balding older man, rides up front and scowls down at the man he sees before him.

"Leo."

"That is not my name."

"From what I heard, you don't even go by a name anymore."

"The nameless can walk through the shadows unhindered by people they don't care about."

"Still quoting your mother's idiotic theologies I see," the leader gets off his horse and walks over to the thief. "The question I am left with, is whether you remember my lessons or not."

"The lessons of an uneducated man are surprisingly more difficult to wash from one's memory than those of a highly gifted mind."

The leader pulls back an arm and punches the thief in the face, making him fall backwards and cradle the spot with his hand.

"You forgot enough," the assaulter spits. He looks to one of his men, "Bring me a rope. We'll drag him back to the village."

　

\---

　

Farther away then he wished to go, the animal finally calms enough to be stopped. Ramon looks back and curses at how small the canyon looks now. It is like a model size instead of its massive self.

He quickly pulls his pack to his front and finds a foreign paper inside it. It is indeed a map, clearly marked with a detailed description of the berries they are to find. The hand who had made it obviously took care to be as precise as possible without unnecessarily cluttering it with obtuse information.

'The hand that made it.' Ramon returns the papers and pulls the horse back towards the canyon. Half of himself thinks the thief deserves any punishment the mysterious group might hand down to him. That part wants to do as the man had wished for him to do, to get the berries and return to the king triumphant and unharmed.

But the second half of him knows that he could not live with himself should death be what the strangers had in mind. Though he was guilty of past discretions, the thief had made no move to deceive or be party to ill favored actions while with the inventor. He had even risked his life to save the other and he would not do the man the disservice of abandoning him. No, he would go back.

He would save the thief or do his best not to get them both killed.

　

\---

　

The previously abandoned village was alight with life when Ramon carefully crept closer to it. He had stashed the horse at a safe distance, supplying it with something to eat to further the chances of the animal remaining as silent as possible. Now, armed with only a a few things from his pack, the inventor carefully keeps to the shadows and looks within the back windows to try and find his companion.

When he does, his anger is once again boiled but this time, instead of it being directed at the man he thought a scoundrel, it is aimed at the people who had beaten and injured the man he was beginning to think of as a friend.

The thief is barely holding himself upright against the wooden support he was tied to. His face is swollen and bloody, clothes a dirty, tattered mess and his pants are hardly any better. A balding, older man is laughing with three of his companions at a table nearby, drinking and making jokes about things Ramon didn't understand.

"Of course then that one there," the balding man points to the thief. "He runs off with the sister and thinks I'll never find out about it."

"He sure is a stupid one, ain't he boss?" one of the three remarks before spitting at the thief.

"Hey," the leader punches the man and he falls from his chair. The other two freeze. "He's still my boy and you will show him respect."

"Of course, boss," another answers readily, shaking his head as the third helps their companion to his feet. "Why don't you tell us what we plan to do with the boy now that we have him back?"

"I'm going to re-teach him everything," the leader relaxes back in his chair and takes another swig of his drink. "I will beat the right attitude into him or he'll die trying!"

They all laugh and drink together while Ramon desperately tries not to vomit from his hiding place.

　

Eventually the drinks run dry and the laughter turns to drunken chuckles. The leader pushes his companions out of the room and he harshly pats the theif on his swollen cheek before shuffling up the stairs to a bed that must be prepared there.

Ramon's patience fights with his ever growing desire to leap into the room to rescue his companion, but he forces himself to wait. He waits until the lights go out, then waits a few minutes more for the slight sounds of snores until he carefully eases the window open and creeps inside.

The thief's head rises with his approaching footsteps and the man's better eye looks at him with confusion.

Ramon pulls out his small dagger and its sharp blade slices at the ropes with ease. Without the support, though, the injured man topples forward and the inventor nearly loses his weapon in his movement to catch the other before he can fall to the ground and alert anyone to the escape.

As silently as possible, Ramon half carries the other man to the window and rests him against the wall to go out first. Then he helps the injured man to go through next and they make a hobbling, hopping run to where the inventor had stashed the animal.

The horse neighs happily at the sight of the thief and puts its face in his as soon as he's close enough.

"Hush!" Ramon hisses at the creature as he pushes the thief onto the saddle before pulling himself up next and grabbing the reigns. It's difficult to maneuver the animal and keep the man at his back on the creature with him, but Ramon manages it until he is once again through the canyon with the mysterious group far behind them.

　

The inventor finds a fallen, hollowed tree with an overgrowth of ivy and he stops the horses there to rest. He slides down then pulls the thief down next and eases the man next to the tree before going for his pack with the medical supplies stored inside.

Ramon drops his pack as he carried the smaller black bag of supplies over to his companion and drops to his knees next to him to check his wounds. A hand drops over his before he can open the bag. He raises his head to stare at the face of a confused looking thief.

"Why did you save me?" the thief asks him, tone rising and sinking in a way unnatural to the man's previous tone. "I told you to go. I gave you everything you needed to complete the mission. Why did you come back?"

"I still don't trust you, or have you forgotten that?" Ramon moves the hand away to open the bag. "To think that you hadn't orchestrated that group to find us when they did would be an assumption of a child. I needed to make sure you were not a theatrical master. To me, those people could have easily been in a race across the globe. Why trust a liar's word over people I haven't even met?"

"So you came back because you thought I was setting you up? Did you really think I would know I would have someone with me and therefor plot to get rid of that person? What about my request of the king?"

"The king already said he would help you on that matter, regardless of your ability to prove helpful with his queen." the inventor frowns as he pulls up the man's sleeve and sees a gash from his wrist to his elbow there. "And do not assume I am simple minded enough not to think that you might have plotted for the king and his army to go to that spot and it be nothing more than another trap set by a clever enemy in a man's time of desperation."

"I thought you had hatred for me because of who I am. Now I know it is because you know I am clever."

Ramon pours water over the wound and holds tight to the other man when he moves slightly in reaction to the pain.

The inventor cleans and wraps all the wounds. There is a matching gash on the other arm and several bleeding lines on the thief's back. The rest of the injuries are mostly minor scrapes and bruises and the injuries on the man's head don't require bandages.

　

Once he finishes, Ramon puts the leftover supplies away and the men sit in silence while the horse contently eats at the ground.

"I envision myself as a man who thirsts after knowledge." the inventor speaks up, hand fiddling with the clasp of his pack. "And yet I made no action to learn your name."

"There was no need to learn it," the thief dismisses without the air of concern. "In fact, if it were not for your king, I would not know yours either."

"Would you grant me that knowledge now?"

"Why?"

"Because I want to be able to call you by your name."

"I repeat, why?"

"Because I harbor the ill conceived notion that we could be friends."

"You are right. That is ill conceived."

"Must you make this difficult?"

"No. You can merely give up on the notion."

The inventor sighs as defeat weighs on his chest. "Must you desire to be alone?"

"I have my sister."

"Can I know her name then?"

"No."

"Fine!" Ramon gets to his feet. "Stay in solitude as others bond around you. Feel the ache of loneliness creep into your heart until you cannot help but to think about it with every blink of your eye and beat of your heart."

"It is a far greater comfort to be alone then to trust yourself to others only to be brought to ruins by them."

"What your father has done should not be the template for what others can do."

Icy eyes latch onto the inventor and the chill from the night before returns in full force to his spine. Courage keeps the tremors at bay and Ramon pushes forwards with his words.

"I heard some of what they said while you were being held. I know whoever that man was, he is part of your blood."

"No part that I want."

"In that we can find similarities."

"You have a murderous scoundrel for a father as well? I did not think that the king would have such a man as his closest friend."

"Short of murder perhaps," the inventor ammends. "But his heart is hard and cruel towards me in other ways. My brother is the glimmer in his eye and the mere fact that I contented to stand in his shadow would pout a foul look to his face. I was not invited to any gatherings save those that glorified my brother and I was not expected to do anything other than to sing his praises."

"Did he lay hand on you?"

"No and for that I am grateful." Ramon sits back down. "You are right. We are not of the same. My father is cruel towards me but in fashions that do not reflect your own pain. I apologize with all sincerities. I am at least gladdened that your sister will be there for you, since you will not allow others in."

"You are like a sooth sayer when you are not biting at the bit to chain a man down with accusations," the thief closes his eyes. "I am so tired but we must make haste if we wish to escape the vagabond's clutches."

"This place is well hidden from the untrained eye. You can catch a moment's peace while I keep watch. When you can stand firmly on your own feet, then we will go the rest of the way to the mountain."

The thief's eyes open once again to look more kindly to his companion. "I wonder if you would not rightfully change your sudden mothering if you knew the name of the group's leader. If you only knew who was chasing us and therefor the identity of the man who gave me life. No, I do not have to wonder. I know you would return to your scorn and demand of me to walk the rest of the way, if not abandon me altogether."

"Surely you would have to be the son of Snart the Satanist to be that poorly thought of."

"There you have it then."

Ramon's heart skitters over several beats and he is torn apart with guilt as the thief closes his eyes once again, but not before a look of clear pain crossed over his face.

　

Snart the Satanist was the very definition of evil. He maimed and murdered whomever he pleased. He stole from the weak or strong. He gathered only those who could survive in his company and such people were only more murderer and thieves.

All who knew the name cowered when it was spoken and no one was safe should the creature of a man arrive even in the outskirts of their village.

The inventor had heard the stories, met a few of the survivors that had the good grace to flee in time. But he had thought the man a myth for the tales that were told to him. After seeing the injuries done to the man's own son, he thinks the tale tellers were being kind.

Such a man bearing two children into the world? How could it be? What sort of woman had he lain with to bare them? How had they survived long enough to know the of man's cruelty and lived it as well?

How did the thief before him not become the same monster of a man? Was he hiding his other talents that pertained to a sword in the back or a rope to the throat? Were there unclaimed bodies buried in shallow graves or hidden in the depths of caves and holes? Was there a darkness beyond the ice of the man's eyes that he kept more hidden than the rarest of gems?

All that Ramon had heard of the thief was what the man had taken. They were really only whispers, the gossip of wives idling near the stores or in the washing rooms as they cleaned their clothes. No one had actually seen the man steal anything, only witnesses his presence around the places of theft.

Maybe the man was truly innocent and played against other's fear to gain himself an unearned title? Perhaps he thought that fear of a thief was preferred to fear of a monster's son?

　

"You are silent in your shock which I have known a few times before, but I think that you are the winner in the very bredth of time it is taking you to come back to your senses."

Ramon indeed snaps out of his thoughts to stare blankly at the thief, eyes still closed, resting againt the log and attempting to hide his discomfort with lightly spoken words.

"I am amazed."

The other man's eyes snap open, surprise taking the place of the look of pain. "I have never heard anyone speak of it that way. With percision could you explain what amazes you?"

"I am amazed that a man who has been raised with a creature of darkness - for his deeds taint his humanity to the point of being one - that he could grow into someone I find myself respecting as a friend."

"Respect?" the other scoffs. "You bear no respect for me, foolish inventor. You may bear pity and I tell you now I have no need for it."

"My pity is reserved for women or the weakly inclined," Ramon counters with a confident smile. "You are neither of these so you may not have my pity."

"I do not have your respect either. I should wonder if you are less the king's friend and more his mental patient!"

"You may jest against me and my king but it will make no difference towards the truth that I am telling you now. I still think you may be a thief and a liar, but until you reveal such actions to me I will not think of them as truths; just idle prattle done by those unwilling to understand what they see. So then, taking into consideration all that we have been through so far, and all that we still have yet to do, I will not be surprised within myself if we should return to my king's castle as greater friends than those who dwell in it should partly think possible."

"Your brightened spirit leave me more worried after your mental wellfare, not less so."

"I do not care if you ask the king to put me away when we see him again. I will endeavour to make you like me now that I have decided upon it."

"You will? All because of what your mind may be conjuring up about my past? Because you think me a lonely man in desperate need of another human's attention? Your attention, if I were to be precise."

"Call it what we will, color it however we may, the stone that wedges itself in our show must be handled somehow and I chose to make a friend of it instead of tossing it into the pond."

"It gives me no comfort that you wish to be familiar with stones."

"That is enough talk from you. Rest so that we can once again be on the move. I do not wish to come tarry longer than we should."

"And if we were to be taken again by my father?"

"I saw no father in that village." Ramon shakes his head with a firm finality that the other cannot deny. "I only saw a man crazed from his own evil. That is not a father. Not for anyone."

"Then I will rest. If only because I can finally agree with you."

"Not to give you terrors in your dreams, but I think you will find that we will agree more than you fathomed possible."

"We shall see."

 

\---


	4. Chapter 4

A few hours later the sun begins to rise up with the colors of dawn. Ramon startles himself awake as the horse gently nudges at him from behind. He had dozed on an off from his watch, but even as he had just unwittingly surrendered his vigil, the savage group had not yet come after them.

He looks to the thief and breathes our in relief. The man is still fast asleep where he last saw him. His color is better in the growing light and there is even a small smile gracing his lips.

'This will have to be sufficient.' The Inventor thinks, not wanting to risk their good fortune with waiting too long for the group to chase after them. He secures his pack to the horse before rousing his companion.

"The sky has awakened and demanded that we move from our resting spot to the next part of our journey."

"The sky has a too big mouth." The thief yawns, but he opens his eyes and allows the other to pull him to his feet. "I formally request that you not hold onto me too tightly as we ride for my back is sore."

"I will direct our horse's steps," Ramon tells him in a way that would not garner a man to argue.

He does so anyway. "But I am the better driver."

"Injured as you are, I think it more fair to say we are the same now."

"With one arm tied to my foot we would be the same."

"Nevertheless I will take the reins. You can either accept that or walk. I do not make those kinds of decisions for my friends."

"We are not friends."

"Very well, I do not make those kinds of decisions for the people I travel with."

The thief thinks about it for a moment but nods in agreement. "Because of your vigil, I warn you not to fall asleep while in the front. I do not think I have yet the strength to keep you saddled."

"I will manage but am grateful for the confidence."

　

Ramon rides in front, the thief holding firmly but not tightly to his back, and they continue on to the mountain.

The group never chases after them or they are too inebriated from their drinking the night before to get up in time to follow after. Miles away, so far the canyon is not visible, the two men relax even more atop the horse...

　

They ride in silence at a steady trot and in no time at all the mountain top comes into view.

"There she rises from the horizon like a beacon to our end," the thief remarks before grunting slightly in pain.

"We can rest once we reach its base," Ramon assures the other as he urges the animal to increase in speed to a canter.

　

A cabin sits perfectly at the base of the mountain and there are four children running around and giggling as they play in front of the building. A blonde woman, heavily burdened with child, steps outside the cabin as the men approach and she calls to her brood as the horse comes to a stop.

"If you would forgive us the intrusion, madam, could you possibly also allow us to rest here for but a moment?" Ramon speaks to the woman in the most friendly manner possible. "We only mean to venture up the mountain. We do not wish to burden you with our presence more than our bodies and horse beg us to."

"Your friend appears to be injured." The woman frowns at them, hands pushing curious heads behind herself as if to protect them. "Who are you and what is the reason for two men such as yourselves to want to go up a treacherous place?"

"There is something I need up there, Sara," the thief slides off the horse and grunts when his feet hit the ground. He smiles at the woman's recognizing grin. "I see that you recognize my handsome face now that it is not hindered by that man's appearance."

"Crook," the woman called Sara says fondly as she visibly relaxes and makes her way to the thief to embrace him as much as her growing belly will allow. "Under what troubles have you found yourself that you look in the state that you are?"

"I ran into a past that refuses to let me be."

"If you ever find a way to make such foul things vanish from one's mind, be sure to send message to me about it."

Ramon makes a noise as if to clear his throat to gain their attention before smiling down at them. "Am I justified in the assumption you two are well acquainted?"

"I do not think I harbor good feelings for the assumptuous word that your companion uses," the woman keeps her focus on the thief instead of turning it towards the inventor. "Does he mean for his voiced thoughts to sound as though you are the father to my children?"

"Forbid it please," the thief pretends to be ailed but it earns him a playful hit from the woman.

"I meant, dear woman, that you and he know each other from another time and place. That - dare I say it in his presence - that you two are friends?"

"Friends?" the woman ponders the thought as she looks the thief over carefully. "To be friends with the Crook would indeed be something to write home about but I think we are closer than that. Perhaps more so to the point of being partners?"

"In behavior disliked by the respectable opinion of others."

"Others are far too lofty in their assumptions that what is theirs is theirs."

"I will store the horse now," Ramon breathes out in defeat. He knows that he will get no clear answer from them now. Whoever the woman was, he will not learn of what, nor how she is connected to the thief, by asking plainly. He resigns himself to hoping they will let slip how they are connected through their conversations.

　

"How is Nyssa?" the thief is asking when Ramon returns to them. "I take it by the lack damage to your household that she has finally found the inner strength to hold back her instincts?"

"Her instincts are still the growling woman that I have taken into my heart," Sara answers, slowly lowering herself to the top stair of the cabin to rest. "She is out hunting with our husband and I hope that she will have the patience this day to learn how to cook for I cannot be on my feet for too long."

"Our husband?" Ramon repeats, surprising himself with the sudden question more than the two who turn their attention to him.

"Will you be parroting much of what I say?" the blonde asks with a raise of her brow. "In such a case I would rather you play with the younger ones than sit by my side."

"I would also point out," the thief adds before the inventor can even open his mouth to apologize or reply. "That I would not favor you much if you were to gossip any part of what you hear in this place."

"I do not fear the opinions of others."

"Then I will fear for you. Closed minds are best kept ignorant, lest you bring another angry village shouting at your door."

"You are together with another woman and a man then." Ramon deciphers for himself and the slight nod from the woman only confirms his suspicions into reality. "I have heard of such things across the globe but did not think it even mused about within a day of my own home."

"Many things happen within a breathe of you. You just allow yourself to be blind to it because your mind is not yet ready to know of it."

"Philosophy and opinion on what is love are not the subject matters I wish to partake of for the rest of our journey." The thief grimaces. "I cannot even think myself capable of pondering what drivel may come from thus man's mouth. It will either be depressing or overtly cheerful, both of which I loath."

"You loath more things than there are stars." Sara laughs, holding onto her belly as it moves with the actions. "And I think myself capable of adding even more things to such a list on days like today."

"There are ways of prevention that I know you ignore."

"I will not hear of this again, Crook. Take your ideas and lock them away while in my presence. Then gather my children, I hear the familiar sound of their father's voice fast approaching."

A blade, long and thin, slides in front of Ramon's throat.

"And I dare to wonder if I have found your wife."

"She is just saying hello."

"Make sure to educate the little ones on the more accepted rituals of greeting, Sara."

"Nyssa, please release the Crook's friend. He needs him to get up the mountain and that will be impossible if he is dead."

The blade disappears in an instant and almost as quickly a tall woman with long dark hair appears by the blonde's side. The second woman's posture is strict and tight, as if holding back a sea of energy as she looks the inventor over carefully.

"Forgive her, she is likened unto a cat; taking time to trust those she meets."

"Overcautious behavior weeds out those who do not deserve your friendship," the darker haired woman, Nyssa as she was called by her wife, speaks up plainly. "Under cautious behavior can only lead to death."

"If you were not already taken I would ask you to be my wife," the thief chuckles, turning to watch a man, who looked too small to be wearing the clothes on his back, carry a deer lain over his shoulders to their huddle while the children dance in circles around him.

"Leave your father be for the moment," Sara orders the giggling little ones. "You may play find and tackle him later."

"Crook!" the hunter greets the thief with a broad smile as he stops next to him. "Are you returned to us for a long visit?"

"I am just stopping to rest before going up the mountain."

"But you are hurt!" the other protests, his smile falling away like a heavy stone. "Surely you can spare a night in your travels to partake in some of Nyssa's cooking."

"I cannot cook," the darker haired woman points out, voice controlled and without anger.

"You will never learn if you do not make the attempt," her husband points out. "But first, I must perform the task of a butcher before the meat on my back rots away to inedible waste."

"As if the meat would waste at the rate you can speak, Raymond," the thief ducks when the addressed man turns and nearly hits him with the deceased animal.

"Did you say something, Crook?"

"Go, my love," Sara orders after the thief ducks for the second time. "Do your due diligence and return to us with the spoils of your hunt and the stories that go with it. Then we will all wash while Nyssa cooks and the children can show you what being a father entails."

"It means that when you are tired, you still must work!" The man, named Raymond by the thief, laughs merrily as he walks around to the back of the cabin.

"You know the most charming of people," Ramon smiles at his companion. "One would think you were a more charming companion to gain such jewels of people to admit the knowledge of your existence."

"I am a thief, therefor I stole their affections."

"You stole my comb," Sara grins, poking at the thief while her wife watches them with hidden amusement.

"You stole it back."

"I took it from your beaten body."

"You had issues with your anger back then."

"Control is granted to those who search for it."

"And you searched very far," Nyssa rubs at the other woman's back. "You found many people and brought back two that would not leave your side as if they were stray dogs you took pity on."

"I give pity to no one," the blonde smiles, leaning back into the ministrations and groaning softly in its relief. "Pity is a word made up by the feeble minded. I will not use it except in mockery of those who do."

"Then let us not pity the past of the beautiful family and rejoice in its presence strength," the thief remarks as if to end the conversation as he glances to the horse. "I must beg of you to watch over our animal. She will not be of much help on the mountain when we take the path we must. I would feel no fear for her if she were to be in your hands."

"If you stay for the night, then I will do you this service," Sara counters, eyes closed as her wife continues to massage her.

"We will stay," Ramon decides for them both. "As long as it does not make for an unpleasant night for your household."

"I would not invite you if that were to happen. I do not allow unwanted house guests." Sara's words spark laughter from Nyssa and the thief while Ramon is left to stare at them without a thought of what they are jovial about.

　

The children, all girls, are loud but pleasant to be around and they adore their pregnant mother beyond proper description. That is not to say they have less love for their other two parents, they merely show more affection to the one that is the obvious matriarch of the family and follow her every word as if she were the leader in battle and they her soldiers.

"We are hoping for a boy this time," Sara tells them as she watches her husband clear away the dishes after the meal. Nyssa is at her side and the children are making ready for bed upstairs. "Poor Ray has yearned for a small man to aide him against all the frill of his home."

"I would not trade a single one of you for all the riches or any son in the kingdom!" Raymond proclaims clear and loud so as not to be ignored or mistaken.

"As if we would let you go now!" his wife laughs back at him. "But even though his words may be true, in the deeper depths of his wishes, he does yearn for a boy."

"Is that why you have so many?" the thief motions upstairs with one of his hands. "Will you stop when you get the boy? Or will you go for yet another afterwards in an attempt to even them out?"

"We are not siring an army, Crook," Sara shakes her head in mock annoyance. "When my body decides we are done, then we will be done."

"You must not say that anymore, lest your body decide to give out completely instead of giving up the power to bear children," Nyssa says quietly but with a voice filled with fear and concern.

"She never likes to see me so round," her wife jokes. "She thinks I am a delicate flower in whatever state I am in but even more so and to the point of suffocation when I am with child."

"You are more delicate when bearing another inside yourself," the other woman points out with firmness. "Child birth is dangerous, especially for us who live as far from others as we do."

"Yes, some times what protects us can be our greatest weakness, but," Sara shrugs. "What is done is done. What will be will be. To fight and shout against that which you cannot change is something I am unwilling to waste myself on. I will live life as I am and hope the next day will not be my last"

"To push from our minds this dark cloud that has come upon us." the thief speaks up calmly. "Perhaps you would like to tell me your selections for the child's name?"

"In that we can change from dark thoughts to enraged fury," Sara chuckles. "I have grown fond of the name Felicity, but Nyssa is completely against it."

"I want to name the girl Laurel," her wife states with a confident nod.

"Then why not Lauricity?" the thief suggests. "Or Felaurel?"

"Fey," Sara brings a hand to her chin. "Fey Laura Palmer."

"Fey Lal Palmer."

"We can argue about the middle name later."

"And what if it is a boy?" Ramon asks.

"Ah, for that I like Oliver," Sara says. "And for once, I do not get any ill will for the choice."

"Oliver Quynn."

"Middle names are yet to be determined still."

"They don't even let me comment, to be fair," Raymond remarks with a smile as he joins them at the table. "I am just gladdened that they put the names of Hubern and Leaf off the table shortly after saying the names."

"Men are half the cause of children but they should have no deciding factors on names since they do not have to carry the little one for month then scream with them as they enter this world."

"Which is the precise and reasonable reason that I have not taken any qualms against you on the matter. I merely want our friends to be knowledgeable on all the factors when they are appropriate to share with them."

"I think it best if we go to bed now," the thief says, standing stiffly as he continues to smile at those giving him shelter. "We must go out first thing to return as soon as we can. Seeing all your lovely children has reminded me of the virtuous reasons I can this way."

"You cut me to the quick!" Sara frowns. "You did not come out here to see me? What a foul thing to say to one of your dearest and closest friends!"

"Do not tell my other dearest and closest friend, he will become enraged in jealousy and is likely to feel inadequate and take it out on me by refusing to help me out anymore."

"I do not fear your imaginary friends for I know I would surpass them if I would acknowledge their true existence. But," Sara pats her wife's hand. "Let Nyssa tend your wound. They are in need of her healing oils and a redressing after the last stretch of land you crossed."

"I will be grateful to her if she will promise to be more tender with me then she was the last time."

"If you move less, the pain will be less."

"I could not move for I was tied to a tree."

"One can still move too freely when bound. You are not exception to this."

"I think I will sleep now," Ramon stands as well. He smiles to the others. "Thank you for all your kindness. I wish nothing but happiness here for you all."

"Thank you, Ramon," Sara smiles kindly at him. "I hope that your journey is as fruitful as you need it to be or more so. For a journey traveled that leaves you wanting is no more than a harsh memory to forget."

 

\---


	5. Chapter 5

The travelers are awoken by the two older girls who try to beckon the thief to build a fort for them out of the sticks they had gathered the day before.

"Do you wanna build a fortress with us, sir?" the younger of the two asks Ramon as he tries to rub the sleep from his eyes.

"No thank you, my dear. I must prepare for our journey. I will gather my companion's things so that you may be able to keep him for as long as possible."

"Come on, Crook!" the two girls drag the man by his arms out of his bed and to the outside.

　

　

"Do you all address him with the title of Crook?" Ramon asks after greeting Sara in the kitchen.

"He refuses to say his name to anyone," the blonde states, looking out the window with sadness in her eyes as she watches her girls encourage the man to build faster and higher. "I think he fears it more than what it represents."

"What it represents?"

"A name binds you to those who gave it to you. Most people can say their names proudly, because they take pride in those who gave the name to them. There are also those who make a name for themselves or who can just say their names because they are ignorant as to how their names might reflect where they came from. Or they care not to know or do not allow it to affect them." Sara lets out a sad, small breath. "Crook is what he was to me when I first discovered him so that it how I call him. My children call him that because he will not change the title and is most likely glad to have it over what his real name is."

"He has not even hinted to what it is in secret to you?"

"Not even in the pained groans of his night terrors," the woman shakes her head. She turns to the inventor. "Guard him, Ramon. He did not look well to my eyes and if he has surely met his past, then he is liable to fall into darker thoughts."

"We are on an errand for the king so that he will lend his power to save the Crook's sister."

"He had remarked of one before but I had not saved much thought to it in case it were a deflection against himself." Sara nods a few times, getting into a nearby chair to rest. "I am glad he has someone for himself. One he wants to claim as his own."

She looks out the window once again to the man, "One who can call him by his name."

　

　

The family waves excitedly to them as the pair travel a path leading up the mountain. Ramon turns back to wave at them a few times before abandoning the movement completely to focus on his footing, lest he fall like a jester in front of them.

After they reach an elevation that takes them above the tree tops, the inventor begins a conversation.

"I enjoyed meeting your friends. They seem pleasant people to have in one's company."

"They are who they are. How you perceive them is your own choice."

"Will you tell me how you met them?"

"No."

"Have we returned to harsh behavior and short or cryptic answers, then?"

"We need to keep our minds clear of conversational clutter as the elevation rises. We will need to regulate our breathing as the air thins and I have not the strength to carry you when you pass out from over speaking."

"Then I will resume my attempt to melt away your hard hearted feelings towards me when we reach the bottom again."

"If you must."

　

　

The air becomes lighter as they climb higher and higher. They pause at small clearings to rest and gain breath. Then just before the wind becomes too strong and the grass barely grows at all, they find what they are looking for.

A small black bush with bright blue berries litters an area of the mountain like a blemish of the skin. The thief immediately goes to the closest bush to inspect it, then pulls out a small canister to collect them.

Ramon pulls out his own container as he goes to another bush and fills it to the top.

"How much would be sufficient for the queen?" the inventor asks the other man as he seals the vessel.

"Each woman has been different," the thief shakes his head. "I do not know how much she will need, so we will take as much as we can carry."

"That will be quite a lot since I have just finished my water container right before our arrival."

"We can trade Sara for a gourd when we return to the bottom."

"Trade? What would she take in trade?"

"Your Lantern would be a nice addition to her home, do you not think so?"

"In a cabin made of wood? It would be a risk of the Lantern burning the place to the ground!"

"Then your blanket. I saw Anna eyeing it before dragging me from slumber."

"What will I sleep on when we have to bed for the night?"

"We are grown men, I at least am. We can share the blanket on the saddle."

"Share a blanket? What madness has been brought to your mind amidst the air that hardly gives a man a chance to draw breath?"

"Hardly a chance and yet you draw enough for two men if not three or more."

"Will they take nothing else?"

"Why do you fight over trivial possessions."

"Why are you offering only my possessions when you have your own readily available to you?"

"They do not want what is mine and if they did, I would hand them over without payment."

"A bleeding heart of pure intentions is what you are I am certain," Ramon grumbles as he finished filling his water container.

"Intentions can be viewed in many ways so none can say any are pure," the thief looks over the plants with an air of satisfaction. "It is good to seem them thriving even in such a place others, even animals, would think not suitable to place their roots."

"Maybe it is because of other's lack of desire that they thrive here."

"In that I find agreement with you."

"Then we best head back down before I say something else less agreeable."

　

　

The two make it down the mountain far faster than they climbed up it. They still pause at clearings to allow their bodies to adjust, but the sun is still shining above the horizon as they make it back to the cabin.

Instead of laughing children and a chiding mother, they are greeted with angry growls and an awaiting band of vagabonds.

Before they can shout in alarm, the two are surrounded, stripped of their packs, and bound. They are then pushed into the cabin where Snart the Satanist is waiting, feet propped up on the table, and grinning like a king as the family, missing the father and second mother, is guarded by several men while huddled together in the other room nearby.

"Leo," Snart growls, motioning to the men holding them to push the two to their knees. "Did you forget that I had an expert tracker in my group? Did you forget to cover your tracks like the fool that you've allowed yourself to become?"

"I did forget about the tortured souls that bend to your will for no reason I can fathom," the thief admits. "But I also do not deign to reason why you would come after me in the first place."

"You are my son!" the man thunders, rising to his feet. "You need to be at my side so that you can learn to be a better man."

"I do not think such a thing can be learned in the company of someone I no longer consider a man."

Snart strides around the table and strikes his son across the cheek. The children in the other room cry softly as they burrow their faces deeper into their mother's arms.

"Keep those brats quiet!" Snart orders and one of the guarding men makes a move to hit them.

"Leave them be!" the thief roars, getting to his feet but stopped before he can get any further. The guard still stops his action to stare at what his boss will do.

"Offer me something worth their lives, Leo," Snart orders his son. "Offer me something that will have me pulling my men out of this house and charging for our next conquest."

"Do you know of King Allen of the Central Cities?"

"All have heard of him and his impregnable defenses. His high walls and impossible to enter castle."

"I can get you in without so much as gaining a raised brow from a passerby."

"No!" Sara protests from her spot on the floor. "Crook, do not dare to think I will allow you to tarnish whatever respect you were attempting to obtain in the at illustrious place!"

"Silence woman!" Snart growls, eyes steadfast on his son. "How would you preform such a task? Allen's armies are lead by a fearless knight that uses fire against those who try to break through their walls."

"King Allen will move his forces out of his kingdom on an errand fit for a fool. It is then that you can be secretly brought in passed the walls and right up to the man's very bedchambers if you so wished it."

"What powers over the king could my wayward son possibly have?"

"The king waits for word of the surveys I have done over the last few days. If I do not return to him, he will send out scouts and you might kill them but you will not enter into his kingdom after that for they will be on alert for treachery. But if you allow me to enter his courts again and tell him of all I have learned, I can still entreat him to send his armies out and the kingdom can be yours with barely a day's time after the point of our arrival."

"Traitor! Scoundrel! Impudent-!" Ramon's protests are met with a heavy hand that brings only darkness to the inventor's mind. His body sags against the hold of their captors and their leader thinks over his son's words.

"I will do nothing for you if you harm those of this house or kill the man at my side," the thief tells the group leader firmly, not leaving any room in his tone for the man to think he were bluffing or unwilling to follow through.

"I have no need to kill the woman or her offspring," Snart motions for the men guarding them to move away. "I will have your man strapped to a horse and taken with us. If you lie on this matter, he will be the first to die."

"How can I lie to the master of deceit?"

"Rightly spoken but hopefully not quickly forgotten."

　

\---

　

The thief and inventor are put in front of a vagabond each to their own self and they are brought back to the village they had been at not too many days previous. There the group pulls out a wagon they throw their captives into with a pair of guards to watch them and a team of horses pulls them to where their journey first began.

　

During a break for the horses, Ramon comes back to his senses and lifts his eyes to harden them towards his fellow captive.

"Tell me you do not mean to be true to your word upon our arrival? Please assure me you have a plan suitable of a gifted mind to get us out of our present disadvantage and that you dare not harbor thoughts of villainy in my very presence?"

"Attempting to form plans that will save others is a waste of my mind's strength since I must use all my powers to keep myself alive."

"Self serving man! Can you not see all the lives you will destroy if this band should get their hands on the people inside those walls?"

One of the two riding amongst them shoves at the inventor harshly, sending him over to the side and causing him to hit his head against the walls of the wagon. Ramon hisses in pain as he pulls himself back upwards and touches the wound. There is blood trickling down the side of his face and the thief turns his icy eyes to the attacker.

"If you do that again, I will voice your ill conceived actions towards Snart and he will hear me with contempt towards those who will not keep to our bargain."

The man scoffs in mockery to the vague threat but turns away from his captive to match his fellow criminal as he watches the road pass them from the entrance at the back of the wagon.

"Make no attempt at having a care for me, thief," Ramon growls as he adjusts himself so as not to jostle as much as his body was presently. "I need no concern from the likes of a man I knew from the beginning deserved the scorn I gave him."

"Then let us remain silent while we wait. For silence, in this moment, can do us no harm."

And they do go quiet, one ignoring the other as the wagon bounces against every rock and the horses pull them along at a steady pace.

　

They sleep, they watch the back entrance to see which part of the land they are passing, or they stare off into the space of their own minds.

 

\---


	6. Chapter 6

Within a mere two days of steady travel the group makes it to the outskirts of the kingdom.

The vagabonds bring the wagon into the surrounding forests, far enough from the kingdom so as not to cause suspicion but close enough to see clearly the comings and goings of the walls. They camp there and the thief is pulled from the wagon to have his bindings loosed before his father. The sun is just beginning to set behind the covers of the mountains that it will claim as its bed for the night. Snart's sneer is bathed in orange lights as he looks down at his son.

"I give you till a thumb's space above the dawn. If you cannot return to me by that time with news of your success, then I kill the stranger in my wagon and return to that cabin to take the lives of all who dwell inside."

"That should be sufficient time. I find myself surprised that you would give so much."

"King Allen is the type who boasts his victories by entreating those who bring them to him with gifts, high words, and feasts. You will indeed require at least that much time to get the fool to shut the mouth with which he speaks!"

"Truly but I make this last statement before I leave, if I return to find that man dead I will have it within my power to make you regret the action that took his life."

"You dare threaten me, boy?"

"The question should be whether you dare to go against your word when it is the only thing that will get you into that castle just beyond us."

"I will enjoy teaching inside those walls, Leo. There are more things for you to learn that I had not known you were ignorant of."

"May my heart be a flutter with excitement as much as my companion's beats with life like it will till my return."

"He will be alive and waiting for you, on that I will agree only."

"Till then."

The thief grabs hold of the Ramon's pack and chances a glance over his shoulder to the wagon as he moves to leave, but the covering is blocking any view of the other man and should he be able, the inventor would merely have turned away so perhaps it better that it was not an ability for the one to see the other and keep their hearts as they already were.

　

 

The guards at the gate allow the thief in and bring him to the king's court to meet with the monarch. King Allen smiles as he greets the other man warmly as he sits atop his throat.

"But where is Ramon the Inventor? Did he not venture with you on your journey just a few days passed?"

"I have troubling news that follows shortly after the uplifting news of my success."

"You have the berries but have lost my inventor is it?"

"Far worse than you could guess, oh king, but first I will have you take the berries which I and Ramon have gone through much trails to gain for you and your bride."

A servant takes the pack from the thief's hands and brings it to the king. He looks into it and pulls out one of the containers holding the berries. One is lifted to his eyes to examine and he returns it with a content nod before returning the pack to his servant's hands.

"Have that brought to the physicians at once. Let them make haste in their demanded tests but warn them to be sparing lest they gain my wrath."

"Yes, your majesty," the servant bows then immediately moves at a more than moderate pace to do as ordered.

Sir Rory enters the court as the thief steps closer to the king. A few of the encircling guard tense as they hold fast to their weapons but the man they worry for does not have violent indentions in his mind. Instead, his mind is in personal turmoil and grief over what he is to tell the man before him next.

"Snart the Satanist lies in the forest beyond your gates, waiting for my return of your dispatched soldiers. He holds Ramon in his midst and threatens to end the lives of dear friends of mine should I not follow through with our bargain to trade the secrets of this castle's entrance to him."

"I will end their lives with the flames of righteous fury!" Sir Rory offers, putting a fist to his chest as he looks to his king. "Say the word and I will have my men make an example of their bodies to show to the world what means will be done to those vile in this world."

"If you go out to meet them head on, they will kill the inventor before you can count how many there are," the thief informs him with regret in his voice and features. "Even if you were to end them afterwards, if only one were to escape and flee, my friends will be dead in a day after. These are things I cannot allow to happen."

"You speak as one who already has formed a plan of solution," the king replies. "Pretell, what have you conjured in your mind?"

"Allow them in."

"That is less a plan and more of madness!" Sir Rory growls. "Have you come to spin a clever tale instead? Do you wish our enemies and the darkest hearts this world has ever known to enter the very gates made to put out such evil?"

"Your fear for the inventor has caused your speech and behavior to mimic the man's own self." The thief shakes his head.

"Let him finish. If we are to judge him, it should be all of him and not just the parts we allowed ourselves to know."

"Thank you, oh king. What I mean to say in my previous mumblings is that we allow them in but then never allow them out."

"You mean to trap them inside the very walls they want passage through?"

"Indeed, sir, and more so than that. I wish for you to allow your men to slaughter them where they will stand in stunned amazement before they can catch their wits about them and bring forth more sorrow to this world we call our own."

"You ask of me to end their lives to save others."

"They have ended more lives than you could want to hear. I assure you with no doubt or regret of mind or person that all that be in their company, save Ramon, are vile creatures in need of an end. Or they will only cause more destruction, more pain, more unneeded darkness to a world with enough of its own."

"I know of Snart from many, my king," Sir Rory speaks up to assure the monarch. "He is darker than the deepest pits of the ocean and his heart us just as cold as well. It would be well to end his power over those we cannot protect. You would do a service that would bring more peace out of an action of blood and violence."

"I wish you would not make note of that which I know must happen to cause their end," the king sighs. "I too have heard terrible tales of what might once have been a man but is most surely replaced by some version of beast. If he is even half as cruel as those who have spoken of him uttered then I shudder to think what allowing him to breathe more breaths will do to the future of others." He stands. "You shall have all the strength of my armies at your beck and call for this task, nameless thief. You may direct them as you see best but Sir Rory will have the final say so it is more him you will need to convince of your plans."

"I am most assured that we will come to an accord."

"Then I go to my physicians to see what they will protest against my love taking that which you have brought us to end her wailing heart. Best luck and all the glory of victory to you all."

"My king," Sir Rory bows to the man deeply as he leaves the court.

Once his leader has left, the knight turns to the thief. "Now, we must speak in more depth so that we are not confused when the swords cut at the air with no time to clarify our meanings."

　

\---

　

At sunrise, the king's armies leave the gates of their king's castle and march towards their goals. Snart the Satanist laughs with his men as they watch them go, cheering in hushed tones so as not to draw attention to themselves.

The thief arrives after the trails of the final man are made beyond the sight of the human eye and the vagabond leader claps him harshly on the back.

"To think my useless offspring capable of lying to so great a king as Allen is a miracle made for my due diligence only!"

"If taking lives to rob from their corpses could be considered diligence of any kind, I would be entreated to agree with you."

"Bring not our spirits down with your own, Leo. Instead, take us to our victory so that you may be brought together with your man once more and can walk away freely with him for a moment as we celebrate."

"If you follow with only your steps and a silence I know you capable of, I will lead you to their end and a new beginning for yourself."

"Lead on! We follow with excitement like children but the wisdom of where to strike if you end this feeling with a reality of distasteful lies."

　

Ramon is dragged by two men following after Snart who trails behind the thief's confident steps. They make it through a drain on the outer walls, then over the secondary walls with ropes and hooks. The inner village is deserted of people as they keep to the shadows of the building's edges to get closer to the castle and their prize. The gate is already lowered and the two guards standing across the lowered blockade tense at the charging group and flee inwards instead of standing to fight like one would assume a brave man of the king's would.

"They flee in stead of fight!" Snart laughs. "Let us take them this day for nothing less of showing them a man's desire breaches their tiny hearts!"

The others cheer loudly as they rush into the innermost walls of the castle. As the last foot of the last man enters, the gate is lifted by the very two who had fled just a moment before.

"You make a mockery of yourself! We do not wish to leave! We wish to make this place our home!"

"Partially do your words ring true," the thief remarks as he pulls a hidden blade from his side. "For this will be your final resting place!"

The thief lunges at his father who dodges away from him with a face full of alarm. The action signals armies of the king's men to come flooding into the space where the vagabonds are awaiting their soon to be realized deaths.

The thief maneuvers to those holding the inventor, slicing and shoving them away before getting the man from their grasp and freeing him with one swift motion so that he may be ushered to safety easier.

"Kill them!" Snart orders of the two as he pulls his blade to defend himself.

His men turn to do as ordered but they are enraptured in their own fights to stay alive and cannot do so.

The thief pulls and moves with ducking, sliding, dodging movements that he forces the man who's hand he holds to mimic. Nearer to the wall, he pushes the man behind an empty cart and pulls a weapon from under it to hand to him in a thrust of the handle so the man is defenseless no longer.

"You did not betray the king!" Ramon sputters in amazement as the world continues in chaos around him.

"Your observance to the obvious is a marvel of man that I have not yet seen before."

"Do not mock me when I am merely happy that my thought for the first time are proven completely wrong in their very creation!"

"To think you not capable of making more wrong thoughts is too vain a thing to allow, would you not agree?" the thief finds Snart and focuses on the man as he ends another's life. "I must go for a moment but I will return so that I might verbally cast down your thoughts of grandeur more comprehensively."

Even with a protest from the inventor, the thief darts from their cover and makes sure, steady steps to the man held in the focus of his eyes.

Snart turns to him as he approaches and beckons him with open arms and a demeaning look that tells him all there is to know of what he thinks the threat to his life is.

"You betray your blood for the grace of a king you do not hold as your own!" Snart shouts when the thief is close enough. "I shall end the suffering of your shame by taking the life which holds it."

"Too many lives have been allowed to end by your hand but no more will this be. Your own spirit will leave us to find out where such creatures end up when their hearts stop beating."

"Brave words are empty when you cannot fulfill their meaning."

"Then let them be fulfilled."

The two fight, the thief grabbing up a discarded weapon to contend with the older man's as the metal strikes and flashes in their joining anger. The battle around them goes silent in their focus, as if they were not part of the world they lived in anymore. Sir Rory roars at his enemies and barks orders to his men while the vagabonds grew fewer and fewer in number.

A pool of blood and an ill timed step has Snart the Satanist falling due to the very carnage he began and brings the man to his back and without his weapon. The thief puts the tip of his blade under the other man's chin as he catches hold of his breath and looks down on his prey.

"You are weak like your mother was. You can no more kill me than you could-" The thief's blade into the murderer's heart stops his mocking words. His mouth fills over with blood as the weapon is pushed in as deep as it will go, then left to sit in the body as if it were its sheath.

"My hatred for you ends this day, more so than your very life now ends."

Snart's eyes stare up at nothing as he mouth moves as if to draw in breath, then all motion stops and the eyes slowly close with the end of his strength.

　

A hand on his shoulder has the thief pointing his dagger to a startled Ramon with eyes the size of dinner plates.

"Please do not make me your next victim due to my foolishness."

"I have warned you about that before. Would it bring physical pain to you if you would just hearken to my words at least once?"

"I feel I may beg of your words after this," the inventor looks over the bodies lying around them. "You have brought an end to a group that has terrorized more places than I have known the names of."

"Captivity has clouded your mind greatly, Mr. Inventor. I only put a plan to place and ended the life of one man. I did not bring victory by my own powers in no way."

"You fight me even when I compliment you? Are you so cold hearted in all things that you will not allow me much of anything in terms of any sorts of conversation?"

"I will not allow anything that brings naivety to the world. These lands are already filled with those who could bring their end if they were put more in charge then what they already have under their care."

"Very well, I will allow nothing positive out of my mouth near you lest it be finite truth but I am of the feeling you would still tarnish my sayings with biting retorts or cynicism."

　

"Your plan has accomplished much," Sir Rory gathers with the two as they walk away from the fallen. "It was indeed clever of you to have the people dress as guard and leave so that they will not be in danger."

"It also gave the illusion that I had done which I could not bear to think of doing."

"Now the people can return and my men will venture out with purpose to save your sister from the slavers."

"It burdens my heart to have to meet you there," the thief sighs in lost strength. "But I fear if I do not assure my friends of this victory, they are liable to send themselves to this place to stop what they think are my intentions."

　

"You need not make such a trip!" Raymond's voice turns all heads towards the hunter as he rests atop the wall, he raises his hands in surrender when a few of the guards lift their weapons towards him.

"Stay your hand for the idiot who perches like a bird in our presence," the thief orders them, feeling gratitude when they listen without contest. He shouts up to the man, "How did you get yourself to such a position?"

"I found a hook lodged atop a much smaller wall and fashioned a longer rope to it in order to climb to my present spot!" Raymond calls back down, hands cupped around his mouth to make his voice louder. "There was much turmoil in the house due to you and I nearly lost my part of my person when I forced the issue of my manly attributes to be the greater value in coming to stop you from a poorly decided decision!"

"Your own mind is far more poorly than any spark of imagination that graces my mind!" the thief calls back. "Now get yourself down without injury or I will harm you with my own powers!"

"How would that be a preferable outcome?" the hunter calls back, confused and worried to the point of frowning.

"At least I will be able to release some of the pressure your family will burden me with when they find out your idiocy!"

"I can think of at least two maidens who will try to have his head if he does not lose it himself," Ramon says quietly enough for only his companion to hear.

"And I will not raise his ragamuffins for him," his companion grimaces as if in pain while the inventor laughs at the thought.

　

The hunter gets back down the wall without injury and after a swift retelling of events he is pleased to hear a better outcome than he feared and goes back to his horse to make his return home in order to ease the minds of those he holds dear.

"You must come to see us when you can stay a fortnight!" Raymond order the thief before riding off without an answer.

Quietly speaking into the dust clouds left by the hunter, the thief still speaks one to him, "If it be agreeable."

　

Sir Rory puts his hand on the thief's shoulder. "I go to speak with the king but when I return we will take part of my men to free your sister and those with her from the terrible bondage placed over their grieving souls."

"I wait with a sage's patience."

The knight nods then leaves for the castle while a few of the men clean up the grounds, a few more had already left to bring back the citizens.

The thief walks the still empty streets with his hands crossed over his chest and eyes downcast while his mind whirls in thought. Ramon follows after him like a curious child, eyes large with frightened wonder while silent.

　

Eyes of ice turn with their owner's body and the thief raises his brow to the inventor.

"Do you not think this is the time to part ways? Do you not wish to go back to your creations? Perhaps greet them in an embrace while tears sting at your eyes?"

"Ah, so you wish to be a jester now that your taste for theft is gone from you?"

"You still have no proof of any theft that I have preformed, Mr. Inventor. You merely have the gossip of old hags that have nothing better to do than speak of others, lest they have no excitement in their lives at all."

"You may wish for me to think you are an innocent fellow, but I can tell by just the air you carry with you that the ability to take from others without them being the wiser to it is not beyond your grasp."

"I take that as a compliment."

"I meant it as one."

The thief smiles, "How far you have gone in your thoughts towards me. What has gained me such favor in your eyes? Was it my dashing looks? They have escaped me at the moment. Was it my clever mind? I am at a loss for an explanation for your words, so that has also fled from me."

"It is the man inside you that I find favorable to be acquainted with," Ramon enjoys the look of surprise that flitters across the other man's face before it clouded over and guarded by the other man's own uncertainty.

"You may not want it of me but I will consider you this day and those beyond a friend to me. If you ever are to need my help, I will be honored if you were to call upon me. My door is not locked and even if the physical one is, I will readily give you access to ease whatever perplexes you on that day."

　

Silence fills the air between them as they attempt to look into the other's minds by stares alone.

　

Then the thief offers the inventor a small smile with a hidden meaning behind it and cannot stop a short laugh from escaping his lips.

"I call very few people friend, Ramon. To be more honest, it is more them calling me the title first before I take them in as such," the man explains with sincerity he did not waste on everyday conversation. "But on this day that you grace me with that word, I will do to you in kind and I make no mocker or jest with it. You are a friend to me as much as you wish for me to be to you."

"May my heart never stop beating as it is now!" the inventor laughs, relieved that the other is not shooting him down again for the word and instead accepting it willingly.

The thief lifts his eyes to look beyond the inventor, "I see Sir Rory approaching with his men at this moment."

Ramon turns to see them as well and nods in acknowledgement. "Yes, you shall have your sister in your company soon enough, my friend. I wish her well and your reunion sweeter than any poet could ever imagine in his lofty writings."

A hand turns the inventor back to the thief who is suddenly taken over with nervous energy and a tentative look of worry.

"What is the matter? Do you fear for your sister? Is she very young?"

The thief shakes his head. "It is not for her I worry at this present moment. It for my own sanity that I fear for what I am about to say."

"What?" Ramon swallows the fear creeping up this throat as if to choke him.

The thief takes a deep breath in to steady his nerves and he removes his hand as he answers, "Many a name you have called me, but on this day that feels more like my first, you shall have an answer most do not ask the question of."

"My curiosity will burn a hold in my head if you make me wait much longer."

The eyes of ice melt into fondness as he answers softly, "My name is Len."

"No other blessing has graced me than the one handed over without the touch of an angle," Ramon smiles as big as his face as he tries to contain his excitement and glee for hearing the other man's name. "You must call me Cisco then. We are friends and we must refer to one another in such a way that our connection allows us."

"Then until we meet again, Cisco," Len offers the inventor his hand and the man readily takes it with vigor so to shake. "I will return with my sister and more gladness than I think my heart can hold."

"Then I shall use my time inventing ways for you to express such a great feeling so that it does not tear you apart from the inside."

　

　

　

The thief goes with the king's knight and his men to the stronghold. They succeed with very few losses and all the slaves are freed from their bonds while the slavers lose something they could not by with all their filthy riches. For what is the price of a man's life? It cannot be placed and the slavers learn that in a way they cannot ever forget.

　

\---

 


	7. Epilogue-Ish

The queen bears the king a healthy and strong son the following spring and the country rejoices for weeks on end.

The thief does not stay for more than a few days, letting his sister dance and sing along with the villagers while remaining close by and even flirting lightly with Ramon though neither mean the sweet words they tell each other.

At least, the thief warns his newly acquired friend of what would happen to him if their words were anything more than overtly sweet mimics of flirtation.

The king offers the man a permanent place in his court should he wish it but the thief politely declines with a bow of his head.

　

Ramon watches them go with a tight feeling in his chest while the party continues to roar in the background of his mind.

　

　

Atop her horse, Lisa stretches her arms high above her head and sings out in joyous contentment.

"I feel as though I could fly!" she calls out to the stars if they wish to listen.

"Make no mistake, baby sister, you are not made for such an action and I will not have you tarnish all my work of getting you back by leaving me to worlds I cannot follow."

"Where do we go now, older brother?" Lisa asks him as she glances back to the shrinking kingdom. "Could we not have stayed with your handsome friend but for a few days more?"

"Because you are attracted to him I thought it necessary to leave swiftly."

"Awe, you fear for my heart or should I fear for his life?"

"Both are not too far from my mind," Len chuckles, glancing back himself but the action causes a frown to cover his facial features. "I dare to think someone chases after us. Have you taken something you should not have, sister?"

"No!" Lisa protests louder than she knows she must, pulling her animal to a halt next to her brothers as they watch a cloud of kicked up dirt trail behind a figure riding closer to them. "Did you partake of forbidden items? Or perhaps have you swooned the wrong woman while I was absent from your presence to prevent it?"

"I have made no flirtations of any sort with any person," the thief continues to watch in confusion as the figure gets close enough to recognize it as the inventor he had just left moments before. "Perhaps the king has discovered another problem he cannot see the solution to already?"

Ramon pulls his horse to a stop in front of the siblings and smiles brightly as he catches his breath as if he were the one running instead of the animal below him.

"What brings you chasing after us like a stricken lover?" Lisa asks with all the confidence a predator possesses before a kill.

"I wish to go with you on your journey," the inventor explains plainly, looking to both for their reaction to his words.

"You, wish to go with us?" Len repeats. "Do you not have duties for you king? Creations awaiting their completion? What about the work on your Lantern you have yet to finish?"

"All inventions can wait a few days and the king is too filled with the jovial energy of his people over his son." Ramon cannot stop the smile that is taking up the entirety of his face. "I know you are to travel to see Sara and her clan. I wish to also witness whether she bore a boy or girl and which names they were able to amicably agree upon."

"I do believe the little inventor found himself missing my dear brother before he was even too far from sight!" Lisa laughs at the thought, but without a touch of mockery or scorn. "Dear boy, I shall allow you to join our party but I hope you have greatly bonded with my colder hearted brother if you wish for his permission as well."

The two turn their focus on the third and he heaves in a breath to push it out in a tired huff.

"I will not be the one to tell the king when you kill yourself due to your own foolishness."

"I would not ask that of you should such anything happen but I have far more confidence in myself to know that it will not."

"Then let us go before we run out of light to ride!" Lisa announces, pulling her horse back onto the path. "To tomorrow and beyond! May they bring more smiles on our faces than frowns and stronger bonds than bindings of sorrow!"

"Your sister is a poet," Ramon chuckles fondly at the woman.

Len grins like a shark as he turns his icy eyes to the other man, "She is my flower and I will not have you plucking her away from me without dismemberment."

Lisa laughs at her brother's dark tone which pulls out a fond chuckle from the man's chest and Cisco weakly tries to join with his own forced laugh.

　

 

None of the trio knows of what lies beyond the next step and they are content in the mystery of it, for it is their life to live and they can only do it in the way they have so far; With one more step to see if there is yet another...

 

\---END---

**Author's Note:**

> One conversation I had in my head spiraled into.....................This...
> 
> [I own nothing.]


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